

But from a cash register standpoint, it was unbelievable.” From an operator standpoint, it was more work. “But it was the biggest boom for golf because we had an activity where social distancing is not an issue, other than sanitizing carts. “When I first started getting wind of that, I was like everybody else, thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is just going to ruin everything,’” Velarde said. Just as course conditions were being elevated, along came COVID-19, Sports Illustrated reported. The more forward tees leave much straighter tee shots.” Baxter Spann had unlimited access to the land, so on the back nine he created championship tees where better players will have more forced carries and landing areas that are pitched away from them. “The course was designed for the ground game, but the grass now is like a carpet, so we’ve lost some of that.
#Black mesa golf movie
“The first time you play it might remind you of an Indiana Jones movie because there is something around every corner,” Velarde said. There’s no housing lining the fairways on the Tribal-owned property, and there’s only one instance where you can see another hole (the second hole which has views of the third hole).
#Black mesa golf series
The course winds serenely through a series of mesas with memorable long-distance views of the countryside, Sports Illustrated reported. That’s helped improve the pace of play, too.” “So we left the basic design intact and turned those old bunkers into grass hollows. “We just didn’t have enough people to keep those up,” Velarde said. Everyone who played loved it.”Īfter the water issues were resolved, another significant change took place in 2016 when 130 of the original 157 bunkers were removed from the course, Sports Illustrated reported. “When we opened the conditions were pristine. “I didn’t realize there were that many top-100 course geeks, for lack of a better word, out there,” Velarde said. High standards were set immediately when the club debuted. We were as far down as it was going to get, so there was no way but up.” It took about two years to fix the water issues. “But the commitment has always been there from the Tribe and the Santa Clara Development Corporation to make it a golf course again. “That initial week or two after the storm we all wondered what’s going to happen,” said Velarde. Course conditions degraded quickly thereafter, followed by scathing online reviews. That’s a far cry from the issues that almost shut the doors for good after an early summer monsoon rainstorm hit in 2014 washed out the feeder lines from the main water source, Sports Illustrated reported. Now back on its feet, Black Mesa, owned by the Santa Clara Pueblo, is expected to host 12,000 rounds in 2021. Seven years later a miraculous comeback has been pulled off at the course, Sports Illustrated reported.

“It was the fourth quarter, down by 21, with a minute left,” he said.
#Black mesa golf professional
Tom Velarde, the Head Golf Professional at Black Mesa, used a football analogy to describe that low point in the facility’s history. opened to rave reviews in 2003, but a 2014 monsoon nearly spelled doom for the Baxter Spann design, Sports Illustrated reported. Now the club is expected to host 12,000 rounds in 2021-up from a low of 6,000 rounds in 2014.īlack Mesa Golf Club in Española, N.M. “We just didn’t have enough people to keep those up,” says Head Golf Professional Tom Velarde. Then, in 2016, 130 of the original 157 bunkers were removed from the course. club in 2014, washing out the feeder lines from the main water source, which quickly degraded course conditions. An early-summer rainstorm hit the Española, N.M.
